New US visa policy to affect international unity against terrorism: Nisar

Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan on Monday said that new visa policy of the United States will negatively affect international unity against the menace of terrorism and increase problems for terror victim.

US President Donald Trump on Friday last put a four-month hold on allowing refugees into the United States and temporarily barred travellers from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, saying the move would help protect Americans from terrorist attacks.

Replying to a question about Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman’s statement regarding new US visa policy after inauguration of Passport Executive Office here, Nisar said that he does not know what Imran Khan has stated about the new US visa policy but this is not about issuing or not issuing visas to citizens of a country.

He said that visa restrictions imposed by the US will benefit terrorists instead of playing any role in eradication of the menace of terrorism.

The minister said that it is wrong to link Islam with terrorism. He said that there are over 1.5 billion Muslims all around the world but a few hundreds among them distort the image of Islam and spread terrorism in the world; therefore, 1.5 billion Muslims should not be blamed because of misdeeds of a handful people.

About efforts made by Ministry of Interior for recovery of missing bloggers, he said that there is no need to make the efforts made by the Interior Ministry public. “The steps taken by Ministry of Interior in this regard are on record”, he added.

He said that present government has never endorsed or used disappearances as unofficial state policy.

“The PML-N government neither adopted the policy of disappearance nor it has endorsed it during the last over three and half years”, he said.

The minister said that following safe return of Salman Haider, a missing blogger, he sent an officer of Islamabad police to inquire about him but he (Haider) did not agree to file a report.

About ban on Jamaat-ud-Dawa, he said that JuD has been under observation since 2010 and he will share further details in this regard in a day or two. The name of JuD is also listed in the United Nations’ (UN) list of terrorist organisations; therefore, it is necessary to take some steps.

He said the committee probing the Dawn Leaks issue is likely to submit its report within the next few days to Ministry of Interior, as the panel will expire on February 7.

He said that 14 Executive Passport Offices will be set up across the country within next three months. Moreover, three mega offices of National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) will also become operational in Karachi very soon and work on NADRA mega centres in Peshawar, Quetta and some other cities is under progress.

Nisar said that by March 2017, each district will have its own passport office. During a short span of one-and-a-half year, 74 passport offices have been set up in various parts of the country, he said.